Final Fantasy VII, one of the most iconic and critically-acclaimed PlayStation titles to date, celebrates its 18th anniversary today, having first seen release in Japan way back on January 31, 1997. The U.S. and Europe received the RPG later that year.
Hard to believe isn’t it? Chances are though, most of us remember where we were in our lives the first time we jumped off that train at Midgar, and for many gamers, FFVII was their first stab at the venerable RPG franchise.
Since its release 18 years ago, FFVII has gone from strength to strength. The title has seen numerous prequels and spin-offs, including Crisis Core for the PSP, not to mention its own anime in the form of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
Cloud Strife’s memorable adventure has also found itself on numerous ‘Best of’ lists, whether we’re talking heart-breaking moments or gamings best bosses/villains. Most impressive of all however, is the fact it’s sold over 10 million copies, making it the best-selling FF title to date, and is largely seen as being responsible for bringing western success to the Japanese RPG genre.
Of course, you can’t mention FFVII without that elusive remake. Sony debuted an impressive real-time demo of the game’s intro running on PS3 hardware nearly a decade ago at E3 2005 (yes, it’s been that long), although nothing has materialized to date. Will it ever happen? Who knows.
Still, in the spirit of FFVII’s 18th birthday, PSU encourages our readers to come together and share their favorite moments of the game below. Let us know your favorite boss, best character, why the game is deserving of its legacy and whether you’d like to see a remake or not.
So, Happy Birthday Final Fantasy VII — share your memories in the comments section below, or give us a nudge on Twitter and Facebook! We’ll even read out a couple of comments in our next podcast, which we’re recording later today.